


Welcome Home

by Cheshire_Hearts



Series: Ratchet Week 2020 [6]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Kissing, M/M, Prowl is Shook, Ratchet Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:42:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24451537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheshire_Hearts/pseuds/Cheshire_Hearts
Summary: The war's over and everyone is returning home. Ratchet is trying to stay hopeful, but with every new ship full of arrivals, his hope starts to falter. Maybe Drift didn't survive after all? It's been a long time and they lost contact long before Ratchet went to Earth with Optimus. A lot has happened, but he still clings to that little bit of hope he still feels that maybe Drift did make and is trying to make his way back to Ratchet.
Relationships: Drift | Deadlock/Ratchet, Hot Rod/Ultra Magnus
Series: Ratchet Week 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759033
Comments: 4
Kudos: 111
Collections: Movies





	Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is my piece for Day 6 of Ratchet Week! I went with "Without love, there is no meaning" for this one. (and I was lazy and didn't edit this, sorry for any errors or weird bits...)
> 
> Also, I'm ignoring RID15 and going with Drift's design from IDW :)

“There’s another transport ship coming in. It’ll be landing sometime tomorrow afternoon. We think their comm systems are damaged or down as we could not get our calls through. We know they received our hails and instructions as they were able to send over an ident code, but couldn’t respond to our messages. The ship is of Autobot make, but that means very little at this point in time.” Ultra Magnus finished, looking around the conference room briefly.

“I suggest we have a contingent of guards waiting to meet them and a few on call just in case anything goes wrong. Hopefully, it’ll be overkill, but I’d rather us be ready for anything than to be overwhelmed.” Prowl replied, placing his datapad down on the table, meeting Magnus’s optics.

“Of course, that is a good plan.” He turned to look at Ratchet then. “Ratchet, I know you are busy with the hospital at the moment, but would you be willing to meet the newcomers with us? I think having a medic on hand would be best in case anyone on the transport needs medical attention.”

“Yes, of course, I can be there. I have enough mechs to cover for me for a few hours.”

“Good, thank you Ratchet.” Ultra Magnus turned back to the rest of the room and they continued their discussions regarding the new arrivals and some business that had to do with rebuilding Cybertron.

Ratchet barely paid attention to any of it, too consumed with thinking about the new transport ship. He tried not to hope anymore. It had been so long and they’d been so scattered throughout the long vorns, but with every new ship coming in, he realized there were more Cybertronians left than anyone on Team Prime had thought there were. And one of them might be bringing his lover with them, or at the very least news of him. Still, Ratchet tried not to hope too much. After all, there had already been hundreds of ships of all sizes that had landed. What was so special about this new one?

***

The next afternoon, Ratchet stood just behind Ultra Magnus and Prowl as the ship came in and landed on the designated tarmac. Ratchet was shocked the broken down thing had held together for so long and hadn’t disintegrated on re-entry. As it was, a piece of outer hull plating fell off with a loud clang to the tarmac below as the ship touched down. Ratchet and Ultra Magnus winced at the noise and Prowl’s doorwings flicked minutely.

“I guess that means the ship probably isn’t worth fixing up after all,” Ratchet muttered under his breath.

Prowl gave him a look. “Perhaps not, but that doesn’t mean we can’t salvage parts from it.”

“We have to get permission from the ship’s owner first before we can do anything.” Ultra Magnus snapped at them both. Prowl rolled his optics and Ratchet let out a loud huff.

The ramp lowered with a groan, settling on the ground. A few kliks passed before a handful of mecha started exiting the ship. Ratchet watched as the handful of Autobots and neutrals walked onto the tarmac, all looking around with wide optics. A flashy, red and yellow speedster skipped forward in front of the others with a wide smile on his face.

Ultra Magnus stepped forward quickly, EMF filled with a shocked happiness Ratchet hadn’t ever expected from him. “Hot Rod?”

“Magnus!” Hot Rod yelled and all but hurled himself at the Autobot commander.

Prowl’s doorwings shot straight up as he looked between the group of new arrivals and Ultra Magnus holding Hot Rod tightly. “Ultra Magnus, what is the meaning of this? What is going on?”

Magnus carefully put Hot Rod back on the ground, keeping his arms wrapped around the smaller mech. “Sorry, Prowl. This is Hot Rod. He’s my,” Magnus paused and looked down at the speedster.

“I’m his partner,” Hot Rod finished, flashing the other mechs a bright grin. “And this is my ship and crew. We’ve been picking mechs up all over the place on our way here, but all of them are good.”

“Anyone need any medical attention on board that can’t wait to check into the hospital?” Ratchet asked, stepping up between Prowl and Ultra Magnus.

Hot Rod peaked around Magnus’s shoulder and looked at Ratchet. His optics widened in recognition before he grinned. “Well, I think there is one mech who wants to see you, but last I checked he was perfectly fine and no one else needs immediate medical attention. I’ve already told them all they need to check in to the hospital for a check-up just in case, however.”

“Alright then, and who’s this mech you think wants to see me?” Ratchet asked, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the speedster.

“He’s over there with the others if you want to go see him; although I’m sure he’ll come running over here as soon as he sees you.” Hot Rod said, using his thumb to point behind his spoiler.

Ratchet moved around him out of sheer curiosity. Not many mechs would be excited to see him, after all. He squinted his optics, taking a few steps closer. A flash of white and red plating caught his optics and his vents stalled. It couldn’t be, not after all the time that had passed, after everything that had happened. Bright blue optics met his and Ratchet’s whole world froze.

“Ratchet!” And then a very familiar mech was shoving his way out from the middle of the new mechs, racing across the tarmac. Ratchet hadn’t realized he was moving until Drift slammed into him, nearly knocking them both over in the process. “I missed you so much, I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.”

“Me too.” Ratchet choked out, wrapping his arms around Drift tighter and burying his face into Drift’s shoulder. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“I never gave up hope,” Drift whispered, arms tightening around Ratchet’s waist. His EM field fluctuated wildly for a moment before it started meshing with Ratchet’s own, both filled with  _ longing/adoration _ . “I couldn’t. I needed you to get through everything.”

“I always hoped we’d both survive. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. Every ship took a little bit away from me when you weren’t on any of them. There really isn’t any meaning without you around, Drift.”

Ratchet didn’t think Drift could’ve held him any tighter than he already was, but somehow he managed to do just that. They stood there, embracing each other and trembling. Drift pressed a kiss to Ratchet’s helm, enjoying being next to Ratchet after so many years apart.

“So,” a bright, cheery voice popped their bubble. “When’s the Conjunxing ceremony?” Hot Rod asked, grinning like a maniac.

Ratchet spluttered, losing all control of his voxcoder and his words. Drift just laughed and kept a tight hold on Ratchet. “No idea, but I hope sometime soon.”

Ratchet looked up at the grinning white speedster, a faint blush crossing his faceplates. “Yeah, maybe after you get settled in.” The medic said quietly. Drift’s optics went wide and he looked down at Ratchet. A brilliant smile quickly replaced the shocked look. Drift ducked his helm, capturing Ratchet’s lips with his own.

Drift pulled back, resting his forehelm against Ratchet’s chevron. “I’m looking forward to that.”


End file.
